But Other Appeals Still Pending

It's a serious setback for supports of Meigs Field in Chicago - the GA airport whose runway was rendered unusable by bulldozers in the middle of the night on orders from Mayor Richard Daley. Friday, an Illinois state appeals court gave Daley the go-ahead to finish the job.

TRO Lifted

The late-Friday afternoon decision lifted a temporary restraining order banning further destruction of Meigs pending a lawsuit filed by the Friends Of Meigs Field and other airport advocates. The TRO had been in effect for exactly one week. It allows Daley and his wrecking crews to go forward with plans to plow the entire airport under - destroying hangars, administrative offices, FBOs and the control tower complex.

More Setbacks

Also on Friday, AOPA withdrew its much-vaunted lawsuit aimed at stopping Daley from further destroying the lakeside airport. The federal lawsuit was dropped as the Illinois State Legislature weeded out pro-Meigs language from two aviation-related bills aimed at expanding O'Hare Airport.

"This whole thing is about what's good and bad government," said Steven Whitney, chairman of the Friends of Meigs Field, quoted in Saturday's Chicago Sun-Times. "What this seems to say is that it's fine for the city fathers to go about destroying public assets in the dark of night. Everybody we've talked to thinks that wrong. It's discouraging that the court thinks it's OK."

But Whitney isn't giving up yet. Friends of Meigs and other airport supporters vow to take the issue to the Illinois Supreme Court or even take the case to federal court if they aren't able to stop Meigs' destruction.

FMI: http://friendsofmeigs.org, www.ohare.com